This Is the Hottest Housing Market in America

By Sam Stebbins Updated Feb 19, 7:56AM EST · Published Feb 18, 8:50AM EST

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This Is the Hottest Housing Market in America — © LOUOATES / iStock via Getty Images

Largely driven by consumer demand, home prices have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic. The median sale price for a new, single-family home in the U.S. spiked from $310,100 in April 2020 to $406,000 in July 2021, and has remained above $400,000 ever since, according to government data. Meanwhile, amid a series of rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, the average interest on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has been above 6% since September 2022, a high not seen in nearly a decade and a half.

Soaring prices and historically high interest rates has made homeownership prohibitively expensive for a growing number of Americans. Partially as a result, the housing market has cooled considerably. After multiple months of precipitous decline between October 2020 and December 2023, new single-family home sales fell from over 1 million to fewer than 665,000. In the last 11 months alone, existing home sales have fallen by 17%.

According to the real estate market data website, realtor.com, homes are now sitting on the market for months at a time in cities across the United States. Still, in some parts of the country, demand for housing remains relatively high, and most homes find buyers within a matter of weeks.

Using data from Realtor.com, 24/7 Wall St. identified America’s 30 hottest housing markets. Metro areas are ranked by their Market Hotness Index score, a proprietary measure from Realtor.com that takes into account how long homes are on the market, as well as several measures of supply and demand dynamics. All data is for December 2023. When two metro areas have the same index score, the city where the median list price has climbed more in the last year ranks higher.

In all but four of the 30 metro areas on this list, the median home sale price increased in the last year. Another potential sign of growing demand, the typical number of days homes are listed on the market increased in only two of the cities on this list in the last year.

Despite rising prices, homes remain relatively affordable in most of these places. According to realtor.com, the median list price for a home in the U. S. was $410,00 in December 2023. In all but six metro areas on this list, the typical list price is below the comparable national median. (Here is a look at the least expensive housing market in every state.)

Geographically, the metro areas on this list are located almost exclusively in the Midwest and the Northeast. The largest share — six in total — are in Ohio, another four are in Wisconsin, and Connecticut, Illinois, and Pennsylvania are each home to three. (These are the states where saving enough to buy a house takes the longest.)

These are the hottest housing markets in America.

30. Youngstown-Warren, OH-PA

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 82.72 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 52 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -10.3%
Median list price: $164,500
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +10.0%

29. Johnson City, TN

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 85.23 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 54 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -7.8%
Median list price: $369,650
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -2.7%

28. Allentown-Bethlehem, PA-NJ

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 85.23 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 50 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -16.1%
Median list price: $369,450
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +1.2%

27. New Haven-Milford, CT

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 85.23 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 53 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +0.0%
Median list price: $399,000
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +14.0%

26. Toledo, OH

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 85.40 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 48 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -5.9%
Median list price: $174,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +16.7%

25. Springfield, IL

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 85.91 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 49 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +8.9%
Median list price: $168,950
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +2.4%

24. Concord, NH

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 86.41 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 54 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -0.9%
Median list price: $574,950
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +15.0%

23. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 86.74 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 44 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -13.7%
Median list price: $335,123
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +3.1%

22. Reading, PA

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 87.25 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 45 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -21.9%
Median list price: $316,750
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +15.2%

21. Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 87.58 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 45 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -12.6%
Median list price: $309,500
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -1.7%

20. Norwich-New London, CT

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 87.58 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 52 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -16.8%
Median list price: $449,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +3.4%

19. Wausau, WI

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 87.75 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 51 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -28.2%
Median list price: $316,950
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +5.7%

18. Trenton, NJ

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 87.75 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 46 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -28.1%
Median list price: $380,000
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +6.4%

17. Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 88.09 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 44 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -4.4%
Median list price: $335,000
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -0.9%

16. Topeka, KS

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 88.26 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 47 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +9.3%
Median list price: $226,950
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -0.2%

15. Peoria, IL

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 88.42 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 48 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -12.0%
Median list price: $149,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +7.2%

14. Canton-Massillon, OH

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 88.42 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 44 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -6.4%
Median list price: $230,000
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +21.1%

13. Racine, WI

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 89.09 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 46 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -10.8%
Median list price: $334,000
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +11.4%

12. Columbus, OH

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 91.11 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 49 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -2.0%
Median list price: $359,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +9.1%

11. Monroe, MI

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 91.28 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 46 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -15.6%
Median list price: $239,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +2.2%

10. Providence-Warwick, RI-MA

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 92.62 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 45 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +0.0%
Median list price: $499,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +5.2%

9. Lancaster, PA

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 93.29 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 42 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -16.0%
Median list price: $411,157
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +4.1%

8. Oshkosh-Neenah, WI

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 94.13 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 48 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -5.0%
Median list price: $294,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +5.4%

7. Akron, OH

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 94.46 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 44 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -10.2%
Median list price: $214,995
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +19.4%

6. Worcester, MA-CT

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 96.14 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 44 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -15.4%
Median list price: $479,450
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +7.7%

5. Hartford-West Hartford, CT

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 96.81 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 45 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -18.2%
Median list price: $389,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +6.8%

4. Rockford, IL

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 98.15 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 40 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -23.1%
Median list price: $199,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +17.7%

3. Manchester-Nashua, NH

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 98.66 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 43 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +0.0%
Median list price: $549,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +10.2%

2. Springfield, MA

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 98.99 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 38 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -13.6%
Median list price: $316,950
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +5.7%

1. Rochester, NY

Hotness index score, Dec. 2023: 98.99 out of 100
Time a house typically spends on the market: 35 days
Year-over-year change in median days on market: -7.9%
Median list price: $249,900
Year-over-year change in median days on market: +8.7%

About the Author Sam Stebbins →

Sam Stebbins is a writer at a673b.bigscoots-temp.com where his primary focus is on government policy, politics, companies, and broad social and economic trends. Sam has been writing in the money and news verticals for over 8 years and holds a bachelor's degree from Hobart College, which he earned in 2010. Sam resides in upstate New York and enjoys hiking, biking, canoeing, and skiing in the Adirondack Mountains and across the Northeast.